Southwest Florida Water Management District Executive Director David Moore "declared an emergency":/download/view/site_file_sets/21/2010-004.pdf !/img/pdf.gif! today to assist the remaining eastern Hillsborough County residents who are still without water and do not qualify for mitigation by a permit holder.
The District Governing Board authorized the transfer of $250,000 in public funds at its monthly meeting yesterday in the event that an emergency were to be declared by the executive director.
The region experienced an unprecedented freeze event this month with 11 consecutive days of below 34 degree temperatures, which required permit holders to pump large quantities of water to protect strawberry, citrus and other commodities. There are currently eight homeowners in the Dover/Plant City area whose wells went dry and are still without water, but do not live in an existing mitigation area. The emergency order will allow District staff to hire licensed well contractors to make appropriate well repairs or replacements, if needed.
"We recognize this has been a hardship for residents living in the Dover and Plant City areas," said David Moore, District executive director. "Our priority is to get these wells working as soon as possible."
There are also more than 50 homeowners who are still without water who qualify for mitigation by responsible permit holders. The emergency order will allow the District to step in and have these wells repaired or replaced if the responsible party is unable to meet their 15-day deadline. In the event this would occur, the District will seek reimbursement for these funds from the responsible permit holder.
The District will hold a series of public workshops, the first of which will be on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at the Hillsborough Community College Trinkle Center in Plant City from 6-9 p.m. The goal of these workshops is to receive feedback from all involved on what modifications are needed to current strategies to manage frost/freeze events in the Dover/Plant City area in the future.
For more information on the frost/freeze event or the upcoming workshop, visit the District's web site at www.WaterMatters.org/frost-freeze or call the District's Tampa Regulation Department at (813) 985-7481 or 1-800-848-0499.
The District Governing Board authorized the transfer of $250,000 in public funds at its monthly meeting yesterday in the event that an emergency were to be declared by the executive director.
The region experienced an unprecedented freeze event this month with 11 consecutive days of below 34 degree temperatures, which required permit holders to pump large quantities of water to protect strawberry, citrus and other commodities. There are currently eight homeowners in the Dover/Plant City area whose wells went dry and are still without water, but do not live in an existing mitigation area. The emergency order will allow District staff to hire licensed well contractors to make appropriate well repairs or replacements, if needed.
"We recognize this has been a hardship for residents living in the Dover and Plant City areas," said David Moore, District executive director. "Our priority is to get these wells working as soon as possible."
There are also more than 50 homeowners who are still without water who qualify for mitigation by responsible permit holders. The emergency order will allow the District to step in and have these wells repaired or replaced if the responsible party is unable to meet their 15-day deadline. In the event this would occur, the District will seek reimbursement for these funds from the responsible permit holder.
The District will hold a series of public workshops, the first of which will be on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at the Hillsborough Community College Trinkle Center in Plant City from 6-9 p.m. The goal of these workshops is to receive feedback from all involved on what modifications are needed to current strategies to manage frost/freeze events in the Dover/Plant City area in the future.
For more information on the frost/freeze event or the upcoming workshop, visit the District's web site at www.WaterMatters.org/frost-freeze or call the District's Tampa Regulation Department at (813) 985-7481 or 1-800-848-0499.